Serbia: Power utility EPS harmonized its electricity production strategy with EU environment framework

29. March 2016. / News Serbia Energy

The production capacities of EPS are dominantly oriented towards electricity generation from coal. ЕU has taken a very steady route towards the reduction of harmful emissions created by coal combustion. Complying with its obligations, in accordance with EU Directives, EPS has included in its strategy all major thermal power capacities in the NERP.

Despite the consequences of the catastrophic 2014 floods, the results of energy generation in “The Electric Power Industry of Serbia” were impressive last year, stated Mr. Dragan Jovanović, Executive Director for Energy Production in the EPS for EPS corporate news.

Jovanović emphasizes that, when it comes to volume, the fifth best production within the last 15 years amounting to 35.6 billion kilowatt-hours was achieved in 2015. Through production from own sources, the annual surplus with respect to the overall consumption was achieved, amounting to 2.28 billion kilowatt-hours, i.e. around 6.8 percent. In terms of volume, this is the fourth best surplus achieved so far. As much as 75 percent of the surplus was realized from January to June, when the HPPs achieved the maximum semi-annual production. In this period, the kWh produced by EPS was the cheapest and the conditions for profiting from electricity trade were the most favorable.

What are all the things that are monitored?

The cumulative planned and achieved volumes of production in TPPs, TPP-HPs, HPPs and renewable resources are monitored through percentage achievements and analysis with respect to the comparative period. We also analyze the monthly supply and consumption of coal, the state of stockyards, monthly inflows of the rivers Danube and Drina and the state of reservoirs, the monthly consumption of fuel oil according to structure, the report on realization of planned and unplanned delays… Within the field of maintenance and additional investments, we monitor the implementation of public procurements plan, the compatibility of plan implementation and the overhauls program with the portfolio, the costs of overhauls and current maintenance and the compatibility with the Annual Business Plan. Within the field of environmental protection, the points of possible environmental issues are defined, but each individual position of a possible incident is also analyzed. The conditions have been created for reducing the duration of the state of hot and cold reserve, which has enabled a higher utilization of capacities and higher production surpluses.

What is crucial for greater competitiveness?

The improvements in maintenance organization that we are planning to carry out in the following period are important. Special attention is paid to the realistic planning of production and maintenance and to the execution of these plans. The periods of overhaul works are shortened, unplanned delays are reduced, as well as the time for defects repair. The improvement of production efficiency directly depends on the application of modern information systems for planning, monitoring and analyzing the production processes and maintenance. IT equipment is significantly applied in the technological processes of production units, аnd the monitoring and analysis of achieved parameters are enabled by the use of telecommunication systems. Through the function of strategy, appropriate solutions are sought for closing down old and unprofitable capacities. In the following period, strategic activities for energy generation are certainly the remaining revitalizations of thermal power units, in particular the ТPPNТ B2 this year already. There is also the continuation of revitalization of HPPs “Đerdap 1“, “Zvornik“ and “Vlasinske HPPs“, as well as the preparations for the revitalization of HPPs “Bistrica“, ”Potpeć“ and the reversible HPP “Bajina Bašta“. The construction of the environmental protection facility for emissions reduction is also important to us, primarily so as to ensure the operation of thermal power units even after 2023. The main strategic goal is the construction of replacement and new capacities. We also expect further improvement of energy efficiency in production, but we expect more from the effects of improvement in energy efficiency on the consumption side, particularly having in mind the reduction of losses in the distribution grid. The goal is optimization, i.e. to increase generation profitability. As we must not forget that the prices of CO2 certificates will significantly affect the costs of electricity production from coal, i.e. the price from the EPS’s portfolio.

Will the energy generation in EPS be prepared to meet all defined parameters within the field of environmental protection imposed by ЕU directives?

The production capacities of EPS are dominantly oriented towards electricity generation from coal. ЕU has taken a very steady route towards the reduction of harmful emissions created by coal combustion. Complying with its obligations, in accordance with EU Directives, EPS has included in its strategy all major thermal power capacities in the NERP (National Emissions Reduction Program). This envisages that plants for flue gases desulphurization, denitrification and cleaning should be built in all thermal power units which will continue operating so as to eliminate the concentration of flying ash. With the help of EU donations, we are implementing the projects for waste waters treatment, whereas the projects for modern transport of ash and slag are financed from our own and loan funds, as well as the closing down of old facilities for dumping ash and slag. With these projects, thermal power generation will have all the conditions for undisturbed operation even after 2023, when, in accordance with the Large Combustion Plants Directive, we will be obliged to reduce emissions to recommended values. This is why the function of environmental protection is given a significant place as a separate sector, whereas the environmental protection operations remain within the sphere of production. It is important to modernize the basic and auxiliary equipment in power plants with the application of more energy efficient technical solutions and the installation of modern materials and devices. In ТPPs, we expect an increase in electricity and heat generation with the same coal consumption, аnd in HPPs, an increase in the utilization of hydro-potentials and higher generation during the same hydrology on rivers, transmits Serbia-energy.eu